Hicks: Wisconsin news anchor who stood up for her weight is my kind of role model

This frame grab provided by WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wis., shows television anchorwoman Jennifer Livingston Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, during her broadcast responding to a viewer who wrote her an email criticizing her weight. Livingston says she thought nothing of the email. But she's angry that some children may not know to do the same when they're criticized, or worse, by bullies. (AP Photo/Courtesy WKBT-TV)

By now you've likely heard about Wisconsin news anchor Jennifer Livingston and her response to a viewer who chastised her via email for being overweight. The viewer said, among other things, that she was setting a bad example for little girls in the area by basically choosing to be obese.

Curious, I got on YouTube and watched her response to the guy, a personal injury lawyer named Kenneth Krause. Then I found a photo of him posted on Gawker -- he seems a fit, middle-aged, white, mountain biker with big biceps.

I seriously hope this guy doesn't have daughters.

The 4-plus-minute video of Livingston -- which she decided to do only after her husband posted the email online, prompting lots of discussion -- was impressive. Here's a well-spoken, intelligent, professional woman with the courage to face the issue of her weight in front of the world and, as such, is anything but a bad example to little girls.

She's also the mother of three and has struggled with her weight since having her first child. I'm sure that makes her someone a male, white, middle-aged mountain biker with big biceps can relate to.

Pandora's box

The clip clearly deals with issues other than being overweight, like bullying, self-worth, the challenges of being a career woman with a family and the Internet's wonderful ability to let people say things they would never say to someone's face.

Advertisement

But the idea of being a bad example for little girls really struck a chord with me, a guy who has two daughters and two stepdaughters, a guy who once heard his oldest say she wanted to be a singer like Mariah Carey, but she'd have to get skinnier and dress a lot skimpier.

She was 10. I was, to put it mildly, horrified.

Which brings me to her two younger sisters who now happen to be 10 (the youngest is 4 -- her biggest concern is why the fish don't answer questions).

Pressure on kids

A few months back, one of the 10-year-olds suddenly announced she needed to lose weight. I don't know where she got the idea -- it could have been just about anywhere, or from anyone, considering that the idea of skinny equating successful surrounds all of us in daily life.

Not that she -- or any of my girls -- couldn't use more exercise (except for possibly my oldest, who sacrificed her career as a skimpy-dressed pop star to become a kayak instructor). It's an uphill battle, and there are days when my wife and I have to announce that electronics are off-limits and that anyone left inside the house has to scrub floors while simultaneously eating broccoli.

But what really annoyed me was how this sudden, unnecessary weight issue was brought about by a guy who, just maybe, doesn't know what he's talking about. Girls that age are just starting to experience growing pains; it's hard enough without being hit over the head with the skinny-equates-beautiful garbage. My other 10-year-old has also made noise about "being fat." She's so thin, I once mistook her for a broom and starting sweeping the floor with her.

Kids have to be steered in healthy directions. But a guy like Krause, who discounted what Livingston has done and what she stands for by ripping her weight, make the job of a little girl's father that much harder.